An Honest Review Of Rare Beauty's Tinted Moisturizer

When it comes to makeup, I’m all about ultra-hydrating formulas that contain skin care benefits and deliver a bright, radiant glow. Typically, I’ll opt for products like CC creams, skin tints, or anything with a lightweight liquid-based consistency for my everyday look. While I have a few tried and true products in my arsenal that I often return to, I couldn’t help but be excited to get my hands on Rare Beauty’s Positive Light Tinted Moisturizer.

As a lover of the brand’s Liquid Touch Weightless Foundation, which expertly evens my skin tone with medium to near-full coverage while feeling like a second skin, I had high hopes for the lighter option. The tinted moisturizer seems more my speed: It promises blurred skin, light to medium coverage, a luminous finish, and sun protection, along with a hydrating formula. In other words, it’s the OG foundation’s lightweight sister — one that happens to be perfectly suited for the spring and summer seasons.

To see how the Rare Beauty tinted moisturizer stacks up with my other go-to's for coverage, I put it to the test — keep scrolling for an honest review.

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Fast Facts

• Price: $29
• Best For: dry, combination, and normal skin types who prefer lighter coverage
• Rating: 4.5/5
• Vegan & Cruelty-Free
• Pros: The formula is hydrating, buildable, and contains SPF 20
• Cons: It’s a bit pricey for something you may be using (and applying multiple layers of) every day

The Rare Beauty Positive Light Tinted Moisturizer

Rare’s Tinted Moisturizer is marketed as “no makeup-makeup in a bottle.” Filled with ingredients like moisturizing vitamin E via sunflower seed oil as well as a botanical blend of lotus, gardenia, and white water lily extracts, the formula works to nourish your skin while providing light coverage. To top that off, it also protects your complexion against harsh UV rays thanks to broad-spectrum SPF 20.

Though it offers light coverage, it’s buildable — so foundation fans can choose to layer this on for more cover-up. It comes in 24 “flexible” shades.

My Skin Type

As someone with skin on the sensitive side, I often go with lighter makeup products for minimal coverage. I’m also a lover of dewy complexions that look hydrated and ‘glass-like,’ so anything that brings subtle coverage, hydration, and a glow (read: anything that isn’t matte) is always on my radar.

While I tend be a bit oily on my nose and T-zone (especially throughout the warmer months), I also have a few dry spots on my skin that require extra TLC. Because of this, a heavier foundation formula will sometimes cling to the area and draw attention to it.

The Packaging

The Rare Beauty Positive Light Tinted Moisturizer is housed in a petite bottle that’s perfect for travel. It feels super comfortable and unique in my hands, with a sweet crescent-shaped cutout on both the cap and bottle. When you remove the cap, you’ll see it has a squeeze-out top (like many other skin tint products).

How To Use

As recommended by Rare Beauty, this product is meant to first be shaken and then massaged into the skin with your fingertips for a radiantly smooth finish — though they note that a brush or damp sponge would work just as well. It also pairs well with skin care, and can have a longer-lasting finish when topped with powder.

My First Impression

Before applying, I prepped my skin with a cleanser and then a face oil for a clean, hydrated canvas. Then, with the peachy shade 16C, I blended in a layer of product using my hands to buff it out — my preferred method since it allows your fingers’ natural warmth to effortlessly melt the formula into your complexion. Feeling quite bouncy and lightweight, I did notice that my skin immediately looked more even.

The Results

Wanting a bit more coverage for daily wear, I decided to apply a second layer of product, this time buffing away with a flat, dense foundation brush. With this technique, I did notice it building to near-medium coverage and was happy with the way it layered seamlessly and without any added weight or that cakey feeling. The tricky areas underneath my eyes and around my nose were still much too shiny for my liking, but after a quick bake with Rare’s Setting Powder, I looked just the right kind of dewy (without being overly greasy or ‘wet’).

Overall, my complexion looked pretty flawless, without appearing that I have much makeup on at all. Even with multiple layers, you can definitely still see darker beauty marks. Though I didn’t have too many blemishes to cover, a light layer of concealer did blend easily on top when I applied some to one area. It also served as a perfect base for my favorite liquid blushes and powdered bronzers.

My more oil-prone areas wore nicely throughout the day without requiring any touchups — even through a 12-3-30 workout at the gym — which was a major plus.

Is It Worth It?

All in all, I am incredibly happy with this tinted moisturizer. My skin looks freshly lit-from-within, and I feel put together without the sense of being overdone. And it’s quick and easy to apply.

The finished vibe is definitely low-maintenance, model-off-duty kind-of skin, but you can easily layer more full-coverage products on top for a high-glam moment.

Though price points can be personal, I will say that as someone who replenishes their daily tinted moisturizer quite frequently, it’s a bit pricier than my holy grail drugstore formula that I can’t seem to move away from. But in comparison to other competitive products on Sephora’s shelves, it’s most definitely on the low end and, in my opinion, is worth the purchase.